Is it too early to be putting “festive” in an email header? On the one hand we’re only just in December, on the other I’ve already had grief for the lack of mince pies round my gaff…

As I mentioned last time, plans for the final bit of 2025 went a bit, shall we say, shonky, but we have ended up with quite a fitting line-up to see the year out. There’s hopefully something for everyone with this trio, and the prices have worked out pretty keen too.

Right, here we ho-ho-go:

First up we have a 15-year-old Linkwood. I was heartened by how many people seemed excited by news of this one – a distillery with a growing fanbase it seems!

On the nose – an elegant sort of fruitiness, with white peach, apple and lime, backed up with some buttery pastry and a lightly mineralic feel in the background. It’s very clean and direct, but with lots of little subtleties: touches of liquorice wood, beeswax, clay and orange cream.

On the palate – a big arrival, with green apple sweets, cherry drops, Ricola, and fab waxy citrus. There’s a long development with peach, herbs, pink grapefruit, and almost a salty tang in the finish.

With a drop of water: fatter, more exuberantly (and inappropriately) summery, with ripe yellow peaches, light honey, spearmint. Gorgeous.

Poised, restrained, elegant. A fruity Speysider for grown-ups!

This ex-bourbon hogshead produced 277 bottles at 57.5%, and they are available for £77.50 each.

Next up we have a 14-year-old Auchroisk, fully oloroso-matured. We might still be in Speyside, but we’re a million miles away from the Linkwood.

On the nose – rum & raisin, hazelnut syrup, peanut brittle and melted milk chocolate. Little touches of plummy fruitiness, coffee, liquorice, malted milk, and dried orange peel.

On the palate – treacle toffee, Daim bar, peanut M&Ms, tiramisu, and that danger point when you make caramel and get a puff of smoke. That adds a nice bitter-sweetness that carries through the finish, with dark cocoa, toasted nuts, a drop of Cointreau, and toffee.

Old-school sherry, this, rich but never cloying. Darkly sweet, really, and Christmas is saved, basically.

This oloroso hogshead produced 255 bottles at 58.4%, and they are available for £69.50 each.

Last, but by no means least, we have a 21-year-old Highland. This is undisclosed heavily-peated Jura. Quite a rare old bird, I believe.

On the nose – imagine a really sweet, ripe red apple … but it’s somehow been peat-smoked. Fruit gums, orange, herbs on the BBQ, spearmint, leather, and light smoke and coal tar drifting around in the background.

On the palate – really rich and viscous in texture, with smoked honey, crystalised orange, and a drop of tar stirred through custard. The development is creamy, with baked pineapple jelly and herbal pastilles, leading into a lingering finish with sweet wisps of peat smoke, tar and pine needles.

This is ace, with mellow smoke, and a fruity richness that you wouldn’t expect from Jura. It doesn’t quite resemble any other peated whisky either, but the result is deliciously idiosyncratic.

This refill barrel produced only 198 bottles at 54.5%, and they are available for £125 each.

A quick note

The lift to my storage unit has, with wonderfully helpful timing, broken down and I’m currently having to lug boxes by hand down several flights of stairs. This is slowing me down a bit (although I’m sure it’s great cardio) so please bear with me if it takes an extra day or two to dispatch orders.

And…

…that’s it for now. I’ll be back in 2026 with new whiskies (and new labels!). There’s some great stuff lined up, and of course please do feel free to get in touch if I can be of assistance in the meantime.

Thank you, as ever, for your support of this rickety old jalopy that I call Chorlton Whisky through another year. It really does mean a lot.

Cheers!

David